Movie: Aarathu Sinam
Direction: Arivazhagan
Cast: Arulnithi, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aishwarya Dutta, Anupama Kumar
Music: S Thaman
Cinematographer: Aravinnd Singh
Editor: Rajesh Kannan
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ∗∗∗
What is it about: A police officer pays a big price for being an honest and a straight forward one. This incident turns him in to a chronic alcoholic. The police force requests him to get back on job to solve a mysterious case which is getting too much attention in media, what happens next forms the crux of the story directed by Arivazhagan with Arulnithi in the lead.
Why it’s disappointing: The film takes a very long time to get on track, which is almost the first half. The movie promises a potential only few minutes before the interval block. There were quite a few factors which seemed like a drag establishing the role of Aravind played by Arulnithi. The film wanders quite much in the first half making you restless and wonder is this really the Arivazhagan who gave “Eeram” and “Vallinam”. The director compromises on quite a few instances by letting the melodrama kick in, which we have seen in old movies. Like a flow of lower touching the Hero’s face giving him a nudge to take up the case. The film had a solid plot which was getting lost in these knick-knacks of Kollywood repeated sentiments. These things makes you almost lose interest which it should have invoked right from the beginning. And finally could have used Aishwarya for a better role, after a successful film like “Kaaka Muttai” she seemed lost in the movie with a cameo.
What to watch out for: The film picks up post interval with solid and interesting elements which grabs your attention lost in the first half. The characters start to unravel their potential accordingly. This starts to become interesting with a plot which slowly thickens. But the plot when just starts to thickens gets diluted once again with few disturbances.
Arulnithi saves the day with his great performance as a chronic alcoholic and his intro scene was a dashing one. He has a personality which picks up well with all the characters he had played till date. His performance in fact takes the film out of the clichés and tries to engage you whenever you lose your attention.
Robo Shankar was seen as a cop with a different tone which in the movie they called it “Cinema Police”. He hilariously mocks captain and keeps the audience laughing in this tense thriller drama.
The cinematography by Aravinnd Singh was quite sharp which was well supported by a crisp cut by Rajesh Kannan. Thaman’s background score was an added advantage which thumps the situation.
Verdict: Arivazhagan manages to nudge the obvious and makes it up in the second half giving you an engaging thriller, which Arulnithi makes it laudable with his performance. Definitely worth a watch.
